By the banks of the Perhonjoki river, the flag of folk music is being flown by the Näppäri group. This group was founded in Kaustinen, which is located in the province of Western Finland and is in the Central Ostrobothnia region.  The Näppäri group has grown, little by little, into a national and international folk music movement for children and young people. The man behind this phenomenon is Dr. h.c. Mauno Järvelä.

In the early 80’s Mauno Järvelä (1949) started to teach children in the folk high school in Kaustinen. This was the start of his career in music pedagogy; the first snowflakes in an avalanche that nobody could have predicted.

Soon after that Mauno organised the first Näppäri summer camp in Järvelä. The basic idea was to gather kids together and teach them some easy folk music tunes. (Näppäri translates as “string pickers”). The first camps had 20 to 30 participants, and the most common instruments were violin, harmonium and double bass. Compared to when it all started, the situation today is quite different. Nowadays Näppäri summer camps, held in Kaustinen, are huge events. This year there were nearly 300 participants from all around Finland, and the spectrum of the instruments has also increased a lot. Besides the violins, harmoniums and contra bass, there are cellos, violas, guitars, accordions, flutes, clarinets, saxophones, trumpets, bassoons, kanteles, harps, percussion, and more.

The new songs have become the most popular tunes among the children. Every year Mauno writes the lyrics to a song, the subject of which is often a hot topic of the day. For example, the hit song of 2009, Pääoma-das Kapital, is about the financial crisis. Everybody gets to take part in the songs, which usually include a challenge for the accompaniment section and the advanced violinists. All the rest get to give their utmost in the singing, and also take part in intros or interludes with their instruments.

Nowadays Näppäri workshops are held in several conservatories and music institutes around Finland during the year. The movement has spread throughout Scandinavia and also to South Africa.

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